The Boy Without Arrows
by Firelordawesome123
Summary: For the longest time Tenzin believed he and his family were the last airbenders. Except one event from his past that he chooses to ignore and the result of that event has been proved to become a lie. Read and Review please!
1. Chapter 1

It was a peaceful and happy day on the island. Why wouldn't it be? The whole gaang made their way up to Republic City to celebrate the glorious birth of the grandson of the Avatar. Yes, he's only a few days old, but already more famous than the battle that almost brought down what use to be the greatest place in the world, Ba Sing Se, led by the honorable General Iroh of the Fire Nation.

This boy will indeed be known for greatness in future days to come, knowing that everyone around him will expect great powers and leadership from him. He will be one of the few Airbenders in existence, three to be exact.

And today we celebrate the joyous occasion with a gala in the young child's honor where the most respected and worthy benders and none benders will get to meet one of the last Airbenders of the bending world.

The room filled with laughter and people chatting away with one another as they awaited the arrival of the guest of honor, who was getting ready with his parents in a room not too far from where the guests were. Bumi was at the punch bowl, complaining about how his little brother didn't think to have alcohol at the party, which his sister mentioned that it was probably because he didn't want people drunk when meeting his son. Of course, Bumi frowned and went to go find Toph to see if she had any liquor on her. Firelord Zuko was with his daughter, chatting with his good friend Aang and his wife, Katara. They were chatting about how disappointed they were that Mai and their other family failed to make it for the meet. Sokka and Suki sat at a table in the back talking to one another about the occasion. In fact, for most of the guests the baby was the topic of conversation in the room. They were all looking forward in seeing the young boy.

Meanwhile, in the other room Tenzin hummed a little tune as he began to wrap his young bundle of joy up in a traditional airbender blanket. The baby, with big emerald eyes, looked up at him and smiled, which made the smile Tenzin wore grow even bigger.

"Dear," Tenzin called, "do you suspect we should make our way to the party? I can only imagine how our guests are feeling about waiting so long to meet our little boy," he picked up his son and kissed the little hairs on top of his head.

A woman walked out of the bathroom, looking not pleased at all. She wore a wonderful Earth Nation gown and her black hair was down, like it always was.

"I look like a mess!" Lin announced angrily.

"You look beautiful," he told her with a smile.

"I'm too fat, so nothing fits me! Everything I wear makes me look like a melon!"

"You're over exaggerating, dear," Tenzin said calmly. "What you're wearing is breath-taking, Lin. It's just the hormones talking."

"Oh, so now I'm hormonal!"

"Of course you are," he explained. "You just had a baby." Tenzin walked over to Lin, who was looking into a mirror, adjusting her dress in many ways to try and figure out a way to make herself look less fat. "People in the crowd will think you're beautiful, like I do."

Lin turned to look at Tenzin. She opened her mouth to say something when a knock on the door interrupted her. Shortly after the knock, Lin's mother walked in.

"Can we hurry this thing along," she said with a smile. "You've got tons of people out there wanting to meet the little squirt." The proud grandmother smiled, hearing the small yawn that came from Tenzin's arms.

"We'll be right out, mom," Tenzin assured before watching Toph exit the room. He then turned to Lin. "Are we ready?" Tenzin asked, Lin nodded.

"Quiet down," Toph spoke, everyone went silent. "They're coming!"

The room silent in anticipation as the guests heard footsteps come closer and closer toward them. Finally, the door opened and the family walked in, being presented with cheers and applause. The couple glanced at their child that lay comfortably in the warmth of his father's arms before looking up at the smiling faces around them.

"I suppose you're all curious to meet the bundle covered in these robes," Tenzin began calmly. "Well, about a week ago we," he looked at Lin, "became parents to a boy. He has his mother's beautiful emerald eyes and, from what I can tell, her dark black hair. We've already have signs he's an airbender and we're so happy that you all can be here to celebrate this with us. Thank you very much."

The room soon filled with applause and the proud parents made their way toward the crowd to mingle with their guests.

"Tenzin," Katara spoke behind the couple. They turned to see Katara and Aang smiling at them, "we're so proud of you. And you too, Lin." She hugged both of them.

"I can't wait to see him grow up," Tenzin told them, handing his son over to his mother. "I want to see his personality develop and I want to hold a conversation with him and I-"

"Oh, Tenzin, cherish the moments you have with him now," his mother interrupted as she cradled her grandson. "Soon you'll miss the moments of him being able to be small enough to hold in your arms. And the many adventures you'll have with him as he discovers the world as if it's brand new."

"Your mother's right, Tenzin," Aang added. "Soon your baby is going to have a baby of his own."

Tenzin knew his father wasn't meaning his baby, but his own baby. Tenzin.

"I love you, dad."

The gala went on for about two hours, but, of course, everyone had lives to live and as much as they wanted to stay and chat with loyal friends, they had to leave.

After the gala ended, the family all sat down and relaxed, Lin having her son snuggling against her chest as they all talked.

"Did you see Haru?" Katara asked. "He didn't look well at all. I talked to his wife and she said they had to hire a healer to come and take care of him."

"Yes, well, I must admit it's hard to see friends eventually leave us," Sokka replied sadly. "I can't believe we're getting to that age where our friends start to die on us."

Outside it began to become rather noisy.

"I suspect Bumi invited some of his United Forces friends over for an after party," Tenzin said, getting up to inspect the ruckus.

"But Zuko looked well," Suki continued their conversation. "I doubt he's retiring from Firelord anytime soon."

The noise outside became even louder.

"Bumi sure is loud, but I guess it is a special occasion," Kya smiled at Lin, "maybe we should join them."

"Quiet, it isn't Bumi," Tenzin spoke, walking into the room. "We need to get out of here. It isn't safe."

Everyone seemed to have worried looks on their faces as they got up from their seats.

"Then what's happening out there?" Aang asked his son.

"Someone's attacking the island," Tenzin announced. "I'll be able to stall them long enough for you all to get off the island."

"I'm helping you," Lin said, handing her son off to his aunt.

"No," he refused. "Protect our son."

Lin nodded her head as Kya handed the sleeping boy back to his mother.

"I'll be by your side, son," Aang told him. "As the Avatar it is my duty to protect the people."

A wall to the side of them collapsed and two men wearing red coats with silver linings began to run their direction. They both had red helmets on that covered their faces. One of them held a sharp sword, the other had no weapon, but was barefoot, a suspected earthbender, which explains the collapse of the wall.

Toph quickly earthbent them away. Aang commanded them to "Go!" and they quickly ran off, leaving him and Tenzin to fight.

As they ran the halls of the building they could hear voices behind them that wasn't Aang or Tenzin. Lin held her son tight, promising she'd protect him. The noise was definitely too much for the young child, for he was crying and had no clue as to what was going on.

As they were about to turn a corner, Toph stopped them.

"No," she said, "there's more of them that way."

"Where else are we suppose to go?" Sokka asked with a worried tone in his voice. "We're surrounded by them and the only exit on this side of the building is around that corner... which is surrounded!"

The voices from both sides started to sound like they were getting closer.

Sokka, Suki, and Katara hid in a room to their left and Toph and Kya took the one right beside theirs. Lin took the room to the right. It was one of the storage rooms that hadn't seemed to be dusted and was filled with old boxes that contained who knows what. A closet in the corner seemed to catch Lin's eye and she quickly hid in there.

Trying to calm her son down, she tried to rock him to sleep or at least try and stop him from crying. She softly comforted him with the sound of her voice, telling him that it was all going to be okay. This seemed to calm him and his crying stopped as she held him tightly.

The voices outside the room were fuzzy, Lin couldn't tell what was going on. She wanted to fight, but couldn't risk it. So she stayed, protecting her child. There was no way to know if the others were safe or if they had found them. _We should have stuck together_, Lin thought. Soon she couldn't hear any voices at all, they must have left, but still, there was no way to make sure. It was best to just stay put-

The closet door flung open, a man who had black eyes, that seemed to have no glimmer of emotion, except despair, and red clothing similar to the ones that the two men before wore. He glared at the mother and child. For a moment, Lin just stared in shock and fear, until reality kicked in and she earthbent a rock toward him. He blocked the rock with a tilt of his head. Her earthbending isn't too good with a baby in her arms. She was about to try again when the mysterious man yanked out the bar above Lin, the clothes and hangers dropping on top of them. Lin was about to ask him what he wanted, but before she could do so, he took the sharp edge of the bar and slammed it on both Lin and her son's faces, knocking them out. The last sound Lin heard before going under were the cries of her son. That would always be the sound she fears most. That will always be the sound that haunted the nightmares to come. They both will always have scars because of that event

"..Lin.." she heard a voice. She opened her eyes and at first saw a bright light and blurry figures around her, but after she blinked a few times the blurry figures became Tenzin and the others. As Tenzin helped her sit up, she grabbed the side of her face in pain. It was bloody.

"That will only take a few minutes to heal," Kya reassured.

It only took a few seconds to realize her baby was no longer in her arms.

"Where is he? Where's our baby?"

Tenzin looked at her and by the look on his face he didn't want her to know, but she deserved to know the truth.

"They took him," Tenzin spoke. Lin quickly got to her feet, but being too weak, she almost fell to the ground. Tenzin caught her before she did so. "But.. needn't to worry, Lin. Aang went after them. He'll bring him home."

They never saw their son or Avatar Aang again.


	2. Chapter 2

_Years later..._

Bumi sat on a rock, watching his nieces play a game of Pai Sho, and by the looks of things, Jinorra was about to win. Still, Ikki sat in intense thought as she decided what move to choose. Finally, she made her move; the wrong move. Jinorra quickly glided one of her pieces across the table and won. Ikki crossed her arms and frowned as Jinorra cheered silently.

"That's not fair! _You_ cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Not!"

"Alright," a sigh came out of the elder airbender's mouth as he made his way to his fighting children, "what is the matter this time, Ikki?"

"Me?" Ikki snarled. "Jinnora's the one who cheated!"

"Did not! I won fair and square," Jinnora replied back with just as much anger in her voice as her sister. The sister's quickly went into fighting stances as they glared at one another in anger.

"Girls, please!" Tenzin let out another sigh. "I'm sure Jinorra didn't cheat. Ikki, it's okay to lose a game once in a while."

Jinorra let out a mocking laugh.

"And, Jinorra, go easy on your sister next time," he added in quickly. "You two are going to have to try to get along. I'm tired of dealing with your conflicts." And with that, he walked away.

The two girls wouldn't look at each other, standing back to back against one another as Bumi tried to come up with something to do or say to make them stop. Thankfully, though, he didn't have to, because his sister quickly entered and she seemed to have some news.

"Bumi," she said with a smile. She help a piece of paper up by her side. "Look at this! I knew this place looked familiar."

The girls suddenly forgot they were fighting and looked as curious as to what their aunt was talking about as their Uncle Bumi, who had leaned in to read the words on the paper. Moments later and Bumi suddenly went wide-eyed and looked at his sister.

"Does Tenzin know this is the place?"

"I'm not sure," Kya replied.

"What?" Ikki asked. "What place is this?"

"Do we dare show him this flyer," Kya asked, ignoring Ikki's question.

"I think we dare," Bumi replied.

Tenzin arrived back as if on cue and by the look on his face he didn't seem too happy.

"Girls," Tenzin began, "until you two learn to get along with each other, starting today, you will spend your vacation days together."

"Daddy, where are we?" Ikki asked.

Her father looked confused as Ikki looked up at him with curious eyes. He turned to his siblings for guidance.

"Tenzin, this is the place," Kya explained. "This is where dad died."

The girls noticed their father's mood suddenly change from aggravation to sadness.

Kya continued, "I saw this," she showed him the flyer, "when I was in town."

As Tenzin read the piece of paper, his daughter's noticed the more that he read, the sadder he became.

When he finished reading, Tenzin looked up at his siblings. The look on his face said it all, whatever he had just read was too much for him. He took a while to speak after he read the paper, but when he finally did, he had very little to say.

"I have no desire to go to this." And he walked away.

Kya and Bumi gave looks to one another before following their little brother inside, with Jinorra and Ikki following close behind.

Inside, Tenzin was talking to Pema. They were whispering to one another, so it was hard to make out what they were saying. Tenzin used "leave" a lot and Pema would occasionally say "what happened" or "what's wrong", but mainly she just listened to her husband.

Kya shook her head and moved closer to Tenzin and Pema. "I think it'd be good to have the children learn about this."

"What's going on?" Jinorra asked her parents, both her and her sister wanting to know what the adults were talking about.

"This is the place where Avatar Aang died," Kya finally told them, "and there's a statue in his honor in the town. Would you like me to take you guys to go see it?"

Jinorra and Ikki smiled and nodded their heads, but before they could express their excitement, Tenzin spoke.

"Absolutely not," he said sternly.

"Tenzin," said Pema, putting a hand of comfort on his shoulder, "maybe it's time they knew."

Tenzin softly gave a smile to his wife and turned to his siblings. "Do you all feel this way?"

Kya and Bumi nodded their heads.

"Then maybe they should go see... it," Tenzin spoke softly. "You have my blessing, Kya. Go on!"

Kya turned to his nieces. "We'll go as soon as Meelo wakes up from his nap."

This time Jinorra and ikki cheered as they ran off to get ready, leaving behind three smiling faces and one man left in melancholy.

The children practically skipped their way to town, with Kya and Bumi close behind. Pema thought about going, but decided to stay with her husband and Rohan instead. The town was fairly small and Avatar Aang dying, or to be specific, being murdered, here is probably the only thing that put the town on the map. The town looked real old-fashioned with its small wooden houses and there wasn't a Satomobile in sight. It was far from Republic City.

The statue was placed where Avatar Aang died, just outside the woods that lived beside the town. The statue was big and gold, although it had some dirt on it. The Avatar looked heroic sitting on the ground, holding his glider firmly with one hand, which seemed to be the only thing keeping him from falling completely to the ground. The children noticed what he was holding in his other hand, making faces of confusion. In Aang's other arms he held a baby. The baby was curled up in a ball, facing the Avatar.

Ikki and Meelo looked at their aunt and uncle for an explanation, Kya and Bumi opened their mouths to speak.

"Here you stand where the Avatar died," read Jinorra. "Seventeen years ago the Avatar single-handedly fought a group of unknown soldiers, who attacked his home earlier that night. It is unknown why they attacked his home, only that they captured his grandson while doing so. The Avatar managed to rescue his grandson, but he was grossly outnumbered and like many great men before him, he fell, taking his grandson with him. This statue was put up shortly after his death, so that we will always remember the greatness of Avatar Aang and how he died, protecting his loved ones."

Jinorra looked at her aunt and uncle. "Avatar Aang died protecting his grandson?"

Kya nodded, placing her hands on Meelo and Ikki's shoulders. "Yes," she said softly, "your brother."

Jinorra wanted to say something, but before she could, someone walked up to them.

"I see you're viewing the Avatar's statue," the strange man spoke. He wore faded green clothes and a hat filled with holes and patches. He was a short and old man with a long silver beard. He walked with a cane in one hand and a limp in one leg. "Too bad it's a lie."

The family looked at him strangely, interested in what the man had to say.

"_Some_ say the kid died along with the Avatar, but _some_ weren't there that night," he continued. The man looked up at the statue. "I was in my home when I heard a loud noise coming from outside. I ran out to see what was going on. This whole town was covered in smoke and fog, all I could here were the cries of the kid. Then I heard marching coming toward me. I was scared, I thought they were going to kill me. But they didn't even give any of us town folks one glance as they destroyed our town. I think they were looking for the Avatar. I decided to get out of their way, it wasn't my business, anyway. I came here, found the avatar nearly dead. He was hurt badly. I tried to help him, but he insisted I help the baby first. But as I took the baby out of his arms, some earthbender knocked me over," he took his cane and patted his weak leg, "never been able to walk the same since. I couldn't walk and it's all fuzzy now, but they took the baby from me."

"That's not what we were told," Bumi said softly.

"I never got to tell my story," the man explained. "A week later I woke up in my bed with a bump on my head and a cast on my leg. Some kid who "claimed" he saw it all said that the baby died along with the Avatar and they both disappeared into the Spirit World."

"Why didn't you tell people what you saw," Kya asked.

"I tried, but a young man's mind is far more trust worthy than an old man's mind," he spoke. "They didn't believe me, but I make it my goal to tell the true story of what happened that night, no matter how many people say it's not true." He slowly wobbled away from the group.

"We believe you," Kya spoke loud enough for him to hear. The man, not looking back, softly smiled at this, walking to his home.

This event makes one think about everything they know and learned in their lifetime turn into lies and unknown facts. It makes one wonder what really goes on in the world that they'll never know about. The people they'll never know to trust. The wars that go on secretly that they'll never hear of. The wars that they are in, but never knew about. This is the beginning of an end. This is the story of the boy who lived without arrows.


	3. Chapter 3

_The two women walked anxiously through the colony. It was an earthbending colony, judging from their green and gold clothing and their earth houses. The colony seemed peaceful, children would play in the streets as the merchants tried to persuade more customers to come to their store and occasionally see men working on roofs while the women fetched water from the water hole._

_As they got closer and closer to their destination, the less nice the colony looked. Soon the streets where the kids use to play were filled with the homeless. The people in this area wore ragged clothing and seemed to be clingy to the two women, asking them, more like begging, to buy their food and clothing, which the women kindly denied and continued walking._

_Finally, they arrived at an old wooden house that didn't seem to be very sturdy. The wood was moldy and the paint faded._

_"Are you sure this is the place?" One of them asked, a bit unconvinced._

_"The directions the White Lotus gave me leads us here," the other one confirmed. _

_They walked in through the doors of the wooden house. The building was a one-roomed, pathetic excuse for a house. There was only one light that filled the room and it was flickering. The room smelled of rotten cabbages, but by the looks of the buckets in the corners of the room, it wasn't rotten cabbages they were smelling. Beds and bunk beds, that filled with young and old children, lay messily all around the room._

_A woman, who was helping a young boy get down from a wall he had been climbing, recognized the two women at once and quickly went up to them. She was a short, lumpy woman with thick, long black hair that was worn in a braid._

_"We're-"_

_"I know who you are," the woman interrupted. "Please, follow me."_

_As she led them to the back of the room, some children stared, some continued to play and be wild._

_"He's here," one of the women whispered to the other, "I can feel him."_

_The women stopped at the back corner of the room. A small boy, no older than seven, sat on a small, lumpy bed. His head faced to the ground with his shaggy black hair all over the place._

_"Boy," the women called._

_The young boy slowly lifted his head, his emerald eyes looking at the woman. "Yes?" He spoke softly. He lifted his messy, out of control hair out of his eyes, so he could see her more clearly._

_"You have visitors," she motioned to the two women, before leaving without another word._

_The boy looked up at his two visitors. They were smiling at him, if he didn't know better, lovingly.._

_"Hello," he said softly._

_"Hello," one of them replied, before sitting beside him. She had white hair and little loops to hold her hair up on both sides of her face. Her wrinkly face filled with kindness and loyalty. _

_She didn't say anything, just stared at him. Until, she noticed the top of his left forehead. She took her old hand and moved his hair aside to get a better look. He let her do so, but was very confused._

_"Does it hurt," she asked._

_"It's only a scar," he told her. "I'm not even sure how it happened."_

_The woman stared at the scar in amazement. The scar on the left side of his forehead was identical to the scar that Lin Beifong wore on her face._

_After a moment of the old woman touching his scar, he softly removed her hand from his face. _

_"I don't mean to be rude," the boy began, "but who are you?"_

_"I wish we could tell you that," the woman, who was standing, spoke, "but it's too dangerous for you to know."_

_The boy noticed at once the woman's eyes, and her gray hair that covered them. She was blind._

_"Then can you please tell me why you've come here," he asked politely. "Have I done something wrong?"_

_"No," the blind woman replied, shaking her head, "not you."_

_"We just wanted to see you," the other one announced, "to know that you're okay." _

_"Do I know you?"_

_"No, not anymore," she replied._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't help you with anything, honestly," he spoke truthfully._

_"All that you've done and all that you will do, will be enough for us," the woman who, a moment ago sat beside the young boy, got up and stood next to her friend. "And remember," she made sure the boy was looking straight at her before she continued, "you are never alone. May the spirits and the friends you meet in future days lead you to a path of happiness."_

_"Thank you," he said, rather confused. He waved goodbye to them, watching them leave the orphanage._

_"I hate that we can't tell him the truth," the blind one whispered to her friend once they exited the wooden house._

_"We've discussed this with both the White Lotus and Zuko, Toph," the other one announced, "for his own safety, we must keep him a secret. You of all people should know what we're dealing with! I'd rather have him unknown and alive than known and dead!"_

_"I don't like that he's alone," she replied. "He's only a boy, Katara!"_

_"Yes, well... it is what it is," Katara frowned in sadness. _

_"I've made my decision to stay here and watch over him in my remaining years," Toph announced._

_"And leave Republic City? Toph, Pema just had a baby! Lin will need you more than ever!"_

_"She's a strong woman," the blind woman said, "and her son is a small boy. I know, if she knew about this, she would agree this is the better choice to choose."_

_"I hope you know what you're doing," Katara sighed, a small smile forming on her face. "It could be dangerous. We don't know who's watching him."_

_"We do know he's a kind, beautiful boy who has a lot to learn," Toph said, looking at the wooden house, "and, until he does learn those things, I'll protect him with my life."_

_Katara smiled at her friend for a moment. "I wish you the best," she said, giving her a hug. "I should probably," tears started running down her face, "get back to the south, Korra's just about mastered waterbending. Next is earth for her. Can you believe it? She's come so far already. I know she'll be a wonderful Avatar."_

_"I love you, Katara," Toph spoke, now both women had tears streaming down their faces._

_"I love you, Toph," she looked at her friend. "Now take good care of our grandson, okay, and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble in years to come."_

_"I can't promise anything," she told him. "He has Beifong blood, he's bound to rebel sometime in his life."_

_"Goodbye, old friend."_

_"Farewell, Sugar Queen," Toph said, watching her friend walk away as she stayed behind, both knowing their paths may never cross again._


	4. Chapter 4

They stood in front of the statue that told the story of what they believed as the truth, now a lie, for a moment, shocked about what's to come and what may have already happened.

"Where does - What are we - I'm not even sure anymore, Kya," Bumi spoke, sadness in his voice. "I mean, when we knew the lie, we always said at least he's with dad, but... now we don't know if he's dead or alive."

"We'll find out the truth, Bumi," she reassured. "Kids, can you make it back by yourself while uncle Bumi and I go investigate?"

Jinnora nodded, taking both her siblings' hands and leading them back to their parents.

"And," Kya called after them, "don't tell your father anything until we get back, okay, kids?" The children all agreed and Bumi and Kya went and searched every book store and interviewed anybody who was there on the night of the passing of their father.

By the time the kids got back, their father had been nervously waiting for them outside. Once he caught sight of them, he stood up from the step he was sitting on and walked over to his children.

"I suppose you're wanting an explanation," he stopped and looked around. "Where's your Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi?"

"Oh, they went to investigate!" Meelo answered happily. Jinorra hit his arm.

"Investigate? For what?"

"We can't tell you until they get back," Meelo continued, rubbing his arm.

"What's going on here? How did visiting Avatar Aang's statue go? You sure didn't stay there very long, did you?" Said Pema, walking outside with Rohan in her arms.

"We're not suppose to tell you about the baby in the statue," Ikki announced. "At least... not until they come back."

Jinnora gave a look to her siblings that told them to "_shut up before they ruin the secret_."

"You see, Ikki," Tenzin frowned, "I already know about the baby in Avatar Aang's arms. He was my son."

"We know that, daddy!" Meelo smiled. "Our secret is that he might be alive!"

Tenzin stood in shock as Kya and Bumi ran up to them, books in their arms.

"Tenzin, we have something to tell you," Kya said, obviously breathless. "We went to the-"

"My son might be alive?"

Kya glared at her nephew and nieces as they gave her nervous smiles.

"Surprise!" Bumi cheered, hitting the back of his little brother's back.

* * *

_It was a clear day, the sun shone above them as the people of the colony lived their day like any other normal day. A breeze that came every so often kept them cool. _

_A woman in a small creaking chair, keeping her bare feet firmly on the rocky ground, rocked back and forth, enjoying the feel of the day. A young boy, not far from her, crouched below a garden, picking vegetables out of the ground. Why? Because that woman asked him to. Actually, she asked specifically for him... and it would be rude if he said no. _

_She really didn't talk to him whenever he did chores around her home, but was also never rude to him. By the fifth time, he kind of figured she was lonely and just needed somebody to be there. Why it has to be him, he'll never understand._

_The boy stopped picking vegetables from the garden and looked into the woman's grey, lifeless eyes._

_"Excuse me," he spoke kindly. Her eyes blinked, but she didn't move any direction toward him. "How do you know I'm always here? I mean," he stood up, wiping the dirt off his legs, "every time I walk to your home, you know I'm there. Even though we don't talk when I'm here, you know what I'm doing... and if I'm doing it wrong, you know and you help me do it the correct way."_

_The woman smiled softly and got up from her chair and walked to the boy._

_"When I was a child, about your age," she began, "I ran away from home. I was crying in a cave when I met these badgermoles. They taught me earthbending. They were blind, too... so we understood each other."_

_He watched as she earthbent a vegetable that lay on the ground, catching it with her hands._

_"You see, I do see... just not the way you would think," she explained. "The earth is my eyes."_

_"That's... amazing!" The boy spoke, flabbergasted._

_"Yes... well, get back to work, I need those vegetables out and cleaned before you get back to the-" She frowned. "I'm sorry."_

_He crouched back down and continued to pick out the vegetables from the ground and she went to sit back down. It was once again silent._

_The sun was just about to set when he had finished picking out all the ripe vegetables from the garden. It was getting cooler outside, due to the wind becoming stronger. He lifted the basket of vegetables and walked towards the house. He stopped when he got near the woman, setting the basket down and facing her._

_"I got a feeling there's a lot of things I don't know," he began, sitting on the floor below the woman. "My first memory was when I was little, I'm not even sure it's a memory... or just a dream. I remember it as if I were looking above myself, like, I was seeing myself, but I seemed like someone else, even though I wasn't. I knew it was me because someone was observing my scar," he looked at the woman, "back then it was more than a scar. The person, I suppose, was checking to see how the scar was healing. And that was it, nothing else happened." He paused, looking down at the ground. "I hold on to that memory... or dream... or whatever, because," he looked back at the woman, tears forcing their way out of his eyes, "it's all I have."_

_The woman looked sadder than he was, although, she wasn't crying. _

_"And I got scared when you came," he admitted. "I thought you were going to take me away... to a place worse than this."_

_"Why would you think that," she asked, shocked on what he just said._

_"Because I did something that no one else here has ever seen before," he spoke shakily, moving closer to her. "I didn't mean to do it, honestly. It just happened. I just got angry at him and... whoosh! The boy was knocked down and our care taker quickly hurried into her office."_

_"What did you do," she spoke as if she already knew the answer. But he didn't know that._

_He leaned in closer, tears running down his face. "I... airbent the boy to the ground," he whispered. "But I didn't know what it was when I did it, honestly. Somebody told me later that I was airbending... but I swear I didn't know. It usually never gets out of hand like it did that day."_

_"You've airbent before?"_

_He nodded. "Since I was a little boy. But I never told anyone before because... I didn't know what it was and I was scared. But then, when I found out what it was..."_

_"What? Go on, please."_

_"Am I the last airbender? Are there more of me? Am I alone?"_

_The woman leaned in to hold him. "All you really need to know right now is that you are not alone," she told him. She wanted to say so much more, but she knew it wasn't time. _

_"Can I ask you a question and will you answer it honestly?"_

_She let go of the boy. "That really depends on the question, but I'll do my best."_

_"..Did you know me? You know, before I came here?"_

_"We crossed paths, yes," she answered._

_"Is my family dead?"_

_"Not all of them," she answered._

_"Do they know where I am?"_

_"Not all of them."_

_He sighed and turned away from the woman, his head hung low. "I have one more question for you.."_

_"Okay," she said patiently._

_"In their eyes, am I dead?"_

_She shook her head. "Death is such a complicated subject," she explained. "Even those who are gone are still a part of us in some way in our life. There might be a song that someone hears that reminds them of a loved one... or a scar," he touched his forehead, "not a scar physically, but a mark that the person has made in their lives, even if it was a little mark. Or even a war that lives on through their mind because of the pain of that loved ones death. It lives on. We live on after death... through stories. And what I think you're asking me is the total opposite of the truth about death."_

_He stood there confused. She didn't answer his last question at all, just talked some mumbo jumbo about death._

_"It's late," she said, the sky becoming darker. "Go and get some sleep."_

_He went to pick up the basket of vegetables, but she took it out of his hands and led him out._

_"Wait," he stopped at the door, "this conversation is..."_

_"...our secret. I promise I won't tell anyone about this." And with that, he waved goodbye and she closed the door, suddenly feeling sad._

_She placed the basket on a counter in her kitchen when her phone rang._

_"Hello," she spoke, picking up the phone, her voice a sad tone. "Lin, hello!" She tried to sound more happy. "How's my little badgermole?" She listened to her daughter. "Me? Oh... I'm great. Just... enjoying my life here. How's Republic City, Chief? You keeping it safe while I'm gone?" She felt the boy walk back to the wooden building. "Calling to check up on me? I don't need checking up on, Linny. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world, remember?" She listened as her daughter spoke, still feeling his footsteps of the boy, who just about made it back to the orphanage. "And I love you," she said, "I'll talk to you later, badgermole. Goodbye." She hung up the phone right when the boy opened the door to the orphanage, walking into the wooden house._


	5. Chapter 5

He stood there stunned. His brother and sister staring at him with hopeful eyes; actually, his whole family looked at him, except for Rohan who had fallen asleep in his mother's arms.

"We went straight to the library," Kya explained, showing him the books. "And," she turned disapprovingly at Bumi, "while Bumi flirted with the Librarian, I found something." She opened a book, _The White Lotus Secrets_. "Do you remember that week when they set Korra free? Mom and the White Lotus left for that whole week? Well, don't you think it's odd that they left without telling us where or when they would come back? This person claims that mom was in his colony when he was a boy."

"And," Bumi added, Tenzin listening closely, "I got the Librarian's number. You think she's the quiet by day and wild at night type?" Kya closed the book and hit her brother's arm.

"What did you find," Tenzin asked, turning back to Kya.

Kya led them inside to the dining table, where she placed the books she had in her hands down and the books she made Bumi carry. She opened one book and read aloud: "_The day was like any other, children played and adults worked. But in the early afternoon a man with a blue and white robes walked into my mother's shop, who I now know as a member of the White Lotus. As quickly as they came, they left faster, leaving behind one woman, Toph Beifong_..."

Tenzin read the page of the book. "Is this... could this be the place where..."

"...Toph died," Kya finished for him.

"We need to go there... we need to talk to this man..." Tenzin spoke.

"We don't know where he is, Tenzin," Kya announced. "He might be at the colony, but it's unlikely. He's a grown man now, he's probably somewhere else."

"What's his name, then," Tenzin asked, walking to the nearest phone. "I'll call Lin... and she might be able to track him-"

"We don't know anything, Tenzin. For all we know, this is a mental man with mental problems," Kya said, "or he's dead."

"What's his name," Tenzin repeated sternly.

And with a sigh, she turned the book to the front and searched for a name, "Bedell Misham," she announced. "But there's no address, we don't know where he is-"

"Hello, uh, Lin," Tenzin spoke shakily through the phone. "Would it be too much for you to look up a name for me?" He listened carefully. "Yes, well, he's..." he looked at Kya sadly. "He's someone that I... need to find. Kya breathed, hearing Lin's muffled voice. "Thanks, Lin. You'd be really helping a lot. Well, I... I have to go now. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone and turned to his family, who were all still staring. "I thought it would be best not to fill her in on all the details until... we know all the details." They kept staring. "Get packed and ready to go... I'm sure we'll be off finding him in not time." Still, they stared.

* * *

_It was a cool, windy day, the sun poked through the clouds, not a grey cloud in sight. As usual, everyone carried on as if it were a normal day. And since the strange blind lady came to the town, the boy had spent a lot of time with her in her home. At first, they didn't seem to talk much, but the night, as the boy likes to call it, he revealed it all, they became rather close. Instead of doing the house work alone, she'd help him. She shared stories with him about her daughter. She'd always tell him how an important leader she was and how she saved so many lives. She was a true hero._

_The boy walked anxiously to the earth house. She was in the front, pulling out weeds from the front yard._

_"I don't understand," he spoke as he sat on a nice sized rock. "Why do you work so hard on making your home so perfect, but you wont be able to see it for yourself? I thought looks didn't matter to you.."_

_"It's not always about looks," she said, getting up off the ground, with quite difficulty, so the boy helped her. "But... it is nice for other people, you know." She told a lie. The real reason was to keep the boy around to be around him. She needed a reason to keep him around and chores around the house was the best she could come up with in such short notice._

_"Well, it's a lot of work, that's for sure," he chuckled, smiling up at her. The truth was, he actually grew to love the old woman, knowing that the feeling was mutual. Seeing her was the best part of his day. His smile quickly turned into a frown, she felt his mood change. "I know you're here to protect me... but from what?"_

_She opened her mouth to speak, but then something caught her attention._

_"Help!" They heard from afar._

_The boy turned and saw a man limping down the road. The blind woman quickly walked up to the man, with the young boy, terrified, following behind._

_"What happened to you? Who did this?" She asked, helping him walk to her house. The blood that gushed out of his arm started dripping down the old woman's shoulder, but she didn't mind. All that really mattered to her was to get this man safe. But by the looks of his condition, bloody head, arm half chopped off, a broken leg, he wasn't going to make it through the night._

_"I... I don't know," he told her in a voice of pain. "One second I was buying fruit from the market, then suddenly I'm being attacked, along with other people. I managed to get away, but it wont be long before they come here."_

_The woman's lifeless eyes suddenly grew wide and there was a since of terror in her face._

_"Can you describe the attackers?" She asked fiercely "Who attacked you?"_

_He closed his eyes, trying to remember. It was all a blur, really. "I think... they had red coats on.."_

_"You think?"_

_"No... no, I know," he responded shakily. "With silver linings on them."_

_The blind woman let go of the hurt man, leaving him to fall to the ground, but before he did, the young boy grabbed hold of him, making it less of a hard fall than it would have been._

_"They found him," Toph whispered to herself. "So soon?"_

_"What?" The boy looked up at the blind woman, his arm holding the man up for support._

_"You need to leave," she commanded to the boy. He looked at her in shock._

_"What about him..." he looked at the bleeding man._

_"You need to leave," she repeated, lifting him up from the ground. They could hear screams of terror growing closer toward them._

_"But-" The boy looked at the man. He knew the man would soon be facing his last breath._

_"You need to leave. I'll take care of him, I promise." _

_"Where? To the orphanage? In your house?"_

_"Far away," she said, "and don't look back."_

_"But-"_

_"Run!"_

_And so he ran. He ran as fast as his feet could take it. The sound behind him was terrifying. He heard screams of children, screams of adults. He heard their pain... and he was running away from it. He was small and, by the looks of the man's injuries, they were big. But it felt wrong turning his back on his colony. He should be fighting with them, and if he died, he would die knowing he died with honor. So he stopped. He turned. And ran to his death._

_The screams became louder and he saw people burnt, bleeding, and other injuries on the ground dead or about to be. Those who were conscious fought bravely, but they were outnumbered and were no match for the powers that the people in the red coats and silver linings had. They were all of different nations, except the power of airbending._

_The sky that recently shone brightly in the afternoon of the day, quickly became dark and dreary, but you could still see the bright sun._

_When he got to the old woman's house, he saw the blind woman. She was a good fighter, knocking one soldier after the other, the boy was very impressed._

_She turned to him. "Why are you hear? I told you not to turn back!"_

_"I'm sorry," he spoke warmly. "I just-" Before he could say anything else, one of the men, holding a sword, swung at the blind woman. As if he knew what he was doing, the boy lifted his arm, as if he were about to punch him, and with a forceful scream, air came out and soon the man hit the ground, the sword flying out of his hand._

_"Nice work, Twinkletoes!" The blind woman smiled. Then a boulder flew down from the sky, hitting the blind woman. Hard. She fell to the ground. Both fear and sadness compelled him as he went down with her, trying, more like hoping, to wake her up. There was still hope, though, he could still feel a heart beat. The boy was shaking the old woman to try to wake her, forgetting about the world around him. The only thing that mattered right now was to keep his friend alive._

_He was so caught up in trying to wake up the blind woman, he didn't notice that the warriors had stopped fighting and everyone who was alive stared at the boy._

_The boy finally looked up, feeling their eyes on him. Three men in red coats and silver linings hovered above him and the knocked out woman. The two on the sides wore helmets, but the one in the middle stood without a helmet. His black eyes stared into the boy's green ones. The boy terrified, not knowing what to do or say, just looked at the man, who gave him a look of death._

_"Move aside, boy, we'll kill you in a moment," the man said darkly, "but it ain't your turn, yet."_

_"No," the boy screamed, fear in his voice, "I will not let you kill her! She dies, I die!"_

_"Very well," the man said, grabbing a sword from one of his fellow soldiers._

_The boy heard mumbling, then looked down at the old woman._

_"Run," she said softly, "run.."_

_The boy looked at her, tears running down his face. She gave him a weak smile that told him it was okay to leave her. Before he could run away, one of the soldiers knocked him to the ground beside the blind woman. He couldn't sit up because the man with black eyes placed his foot on the side of his shoulder, forcing him to stay down. The man placed the sword on his neck, about to cut deep into his skin. The boy, still terrified, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and waited for death._

_Just then, there was a loud roar above them. The boy opened his eyes and saw a large tiger bird flying toward them. It pounced on the man with black eyes, knocking him to the ground, roaring in his face. The boy was able to get up. Now, he could get a better look at his savior, a beautiful white coated tiger bird, with wings like an angel._

_The tiger bird looked at him and gave him a nod, which the boy knew it was a sign to leave. So, he ran and this time, he didn't look back._


	6. Chapter 6

_The wind blew strongly, blowing the young girl's hair as she looked out at the dry land below her. As she looked around at the plain land, her eyes noticed a sphere shaped metal object that looked quite rusty from obvious aging._

_"That's the drill of the firenation," a voice behind her spoke. "It was an attempt to break through our wall."_

_"But father," the girl looked up at the voice, "they did break through, though... With the help of the Dai Li, right?"_

_"That's correct, princess," the man smiled at her._

_"Then why do we keep it, father," she asked. "Isn't it a sign of our weakness?"_

_"We keep it to remember our lowest," he explained. "So it we'll never become so blind and have it happen again."_

_"King Alboin," a man with traditional earth kingdom armor saluted at the girl's father. "All areas are secure, sir."_

_"Good," said the king. He turned to his daughter and smiled. "If you'll excuse me, princess, I must be off." He bowed before leaving with the soldier._

_The girl smiled and turned back to gaze at the earthy land. The land wasn't much, filled with rocks and a few trees that the girl knew were hoping for rain to feed their hunger. A boy lying on the ground, probably passed out, the rusty drill, that probably hasn't been touched since-_

_A boy lying on the ground! She looked back and saw a boy, who was out far in the distance, lying on the ground._

_"Father! Come quick! Please!"_

_"What is it, princess!" Her father, along with earth kingdom soldiers, ran to her side._

_"A boy!" She pointed to the boy. "A boy passed out there! There!"_

_"Stay here, princess," the king commanded._

_Moments later the Earth King and a few soldiers glided down the great wall to retrieve the boy. The young girl watched them, hopeful for what's to come._

_Soon, the king came back, with the boy in his arms._

_"Is he dead? Will he be okay?" The girl asked in panic._

_"He'll be okay," her father reassured. "Lets get him to the palace and get him hydrated."_

_They placed the boy in a small room in the palace where the earth kingdom nurses checked for injuries as he lay unconscious._

_"He doesn't have any broken bones," a nurse explained to the king, "a few scratches and bruises, though, but nothing too serious, your highness."_

_"Thank goodness for that," the king responded. "I'm afraid I must go back to the wall and continue my business. Princess," his daughter, who was still staring at the unconscious boy, looked up at him, "keep an eye on our guest, will you?"_

_She nodded her head._

_The king, the soldiers and anyone who wasn't the young girl left the room. The girl continued to stare at the boy, so many questions filled her mind. Who was he? How did he end up in Ba Sing Se? He looked about her age, so where did he come from? And why did he leave?_

_She noticed by his appearance that he wasn't coming from any type of fortune; his hair greasy and all over the place, along with his torn up, oversized clothing made her conclude to that. But somehow he appealed to her. He was beautiful to her for some odd reason._

_He muffled in his sleep, making her stop cold. He didn't open his eyes or showed any sign of waking up, only shuffling his sleeping position. She sighed in relief and continued to observe him. Then she noticed something. It was on his forehead. She moved closer toward the boy, moved aside his hair, and touched his scar._

_With a gasp, the boy awoken in panic, grabbing the hand that touched his scar._

_"I'm sorry," she spoke, pulling her hand away from his grasp, stepping back. "Did I hurt you?"_

_He sat up, looking at his surroundings, then finally at the girl: "Where am I," said the boy._

_"You're in the palace," she explained. "You were unconscious outside of our kingdom. You're in Ba Sing Se." She moved closer to him. "That's quite a scar you got there," she touched his forehead. "How did you get it?"_

_"I don't know," the boy answered, removing her hand from his forehead. "I was too small to remember."_

_"Well, then, who are you?"_

_He shook his head. "I'm unable to tell you that either, madam."_

_"Dear spirits, have you got amnesia?" She sat on the bed, facing across from him in an anxious matter._

_"No. I'm afraid I never knew," he explained sadly. "I'm not the kind of person who knows about their history, sorry."_

_She was silent for a moment, but only for a moment. "Well, I'm Princess Aiko," she held out her hand, he shook it lightly, "future ruler of these lands."_

_"A princess? An real princess?" He looked shocked._

_She nodded her head._

_"Princess Aiko," a woman spoke fiercely, walking into the room with a bucket of water and towels, "get off the bed! The boy obviously had a rough night. Honestly, I can't wait until you mature, my dear!" She turned to the boy, let out a sigh, then smiled broadly. "How are you, child? Rough night, I assume? All I'm going to do is clean the dirt from your face, no need to worry, sir. An appetizing meal is well on your way, too. After you get your strength up, you'll bathe and we'll get you cleaned up." She placed the towel in the bucket of water before using it to clean his face._

_"..Thanks.." he said through the towel on his face._

_"Not a problem, sir... I assure you," the women spoke. "I hope the princess wasn't a bother to you.."_

_"Well.." The boy began._

_"Moa, he's real fascinating," the princess explained to the woman. "His past-"_

_"Is none of our business, girly," Moa quickly spoke. "I know your father told you to keep an eye on him, but invading his personals?"_

_"That's the thing, Moa, he has none!"_

_"Nothing?" Moa stared at the princess. The princess shook her head in excitement._

_They were speaking as if he weren't in the room._

_"I'm sorry," the boy cleared his throat, "I don't mean to be a bother, really," he got from the bed, "I guess I should be leaving."_

_"Nonsense, boy," the woman forced him back into bed. "Until you get back to normal, you're not going anywhere. What's your name, by the way, boy?"_

_He began to speak, but the girl told the woman for him. "He has no name, either, Moa!"_

_"No name? Then what do people call you?"_

_"Usually they call me boy," he answered. "..Or son... or anything, really. You can call me whatever you'd like, honestly, I don't mind."_

_"Oh," the woman frowned. "Well, all done cleaning!" She said, trying break the awkward silence. "I'll bring your lunch in right away, sir- uh, boy.."_

_And with that. the woman left._

_"Don't mind her," the princess laughed, "she's always a bit weird when something goes out of the ordinary. Just last week I let loose a snake rat in the palace... she nearly screamed her head off. That was Moa, by the way. She's the head maid in the palace. She's very kind, but strict, though. And she's always there when you need help, whether it's personal or physical."_

_"Here we are!" Moa said, still wearing her smile. "A nice lunch for our guest. Princess Aiko, leave the boy to eat. He must get his strength back up!" The princess bowed to him and skipped out of the room._

_"Eat up, son," Moa commanded. "The king will return soon. He's anxious to meet you."_

_"Thank you, ma'am," the boy said, eating the food on his plate. "It's a lovely meal."_

_And Moa left the room._

_He's really never had such an appetizing meal in his life. Even the blind woman never made something this delicious. The blind woman? What had happened to her? She was nearly dead when the boulder had fallen on her and those men were pretty violent. The boy bowed his head in sadness, suddenly not feeling hungry. And who were those men? By the old woman's reaction to their arrival, she at least knew who they were. There was only one thing the boy was sure of from that night: he, the boy, had escaped death that night._

_The king didn't return until night fall and refused to see the boy until dinner. By then, the maids had cleaned the boy up, even replacing his ragged clothing with nice earth kingdom ones. And at dinner time, Moa led the boy to the dining hall. The room was gigantic, paintings on the wall, old china everywhere. In the middle was a long earth table, three people standing up at it were smiling at the boy: one, the male of the group, stood at the far end of the table. He had long black hair and an equal colored beard. He wore a long dark green robe over a green and golden earth suit; the other, the adult female, stood on the left side of the table, quite a distance from the man. Her hair was a dark brown, flowing down to her waist. She wore a lighter robe than the man and had a long green dress under it. Across from her was princess Aiko. Her dark brown hair was now up in a bun with a small flower on the left side of her hair. She wore a dark green dress that went to her knees._

_The boy walked to the chair across from the man._

_"Please," the woman spoke, "sit down."_

_The boy sat, followed by the other three. People rushed in and placed some sort of soup in front of the four people sitting at the table._

_"..Uh.. thank you, sir," the boy spoke, "for inviting me to dinner."_

_"We're just glad you're okay, son," the man spoke before slurping his soup. "What were you doing outside the wall?"_

_"I'm not from Ba Sing Se, sir," the boy explained. "And I don't remember much from my journey leaving my colony. You see, my.." he stopped and thought for a moment, "my colony was under attack and I ran so they wouldn't get me. But... like I said, I don't remember much on my journey."_

_"Oh, you poor boy," the woman spoke, "you've been through so much."_

_"And what's your name, son," the man asked._

_"He doesn't have a name, father," the girl answered. "I already asked him that."_

_"Well, we can't keep calling you boy and son," he smiled at the boy. "What would you like to be called, sir?"_

_"You can call me whatever you wish, honestly. I don't mind."_

_"Let's see," the man thought, "you're our guest... but also, we have no idea who you are." The man got up from his chair and walked toward the boy. "Will someone please grab me a sword" he spoke. A man quickly left the room and came rushing back with a sword. He bowed to the man and handed him the sword. "Please stand," he told the boy._

_The boy's heart was pounding as he slowly got up from his chair and stood across from the man._

_"Kneel," the man commanded. The boy slowly keeled. He looked around the room, maids and butlers seemed to be terrified, but he saw the princess who was smiling, so he forced a smile on his face and looked up at the man._

_"As king Alboin of Ba Sing Se, I declare that the most appropriate name for you, son, is," he took the sword and placed it lightly on his left shoulder, then the right one, "Xenos, meaning stranger and guest. Do you except this name?"_

_"..Uh.. sure?"_

_"Very well," the man smiled, removing the sword from the boy's shoulders. "Welcome to the family, Xenos. You shall live in the palace with me and my family for as long as you wish."_

_"I don't want to intrude," the boy said, getting up on his feet. "You've been very kind, but-"_

_"But what?" The man asked._

_The boy wanted to tell them everything, about how he could be dangerous. I mean, they have no idea who he is and yet... yet they're helping him. They've been so kind to him and he can't give them anything in return. And if he were to leave, where would he go?_

_"Nothing, sir," he said. "Thank you for having me." A small smile formed on his face._


	7. Chapter 7

The man sat by the phone, tapping his fingers on the table in a nervous fidget as he waited for _the_ call. His brother and sister looked at him in worry, he's never been like this before. I mean, who wouldn't act weird if you find out one day that your son, who was thought to be dead for seventeen years, might actually be alive and well.

Kya let out a long sigh and sat beside her brother. "You should relax, Tenzin," she said warmly. "You've been waiting by the phone for hours, now. Go get some sleep," Kya commanded, pulling her brother out of the chair, "we'll come and get you when Lin calls, okay?"

"I... I suppose," Tenzin replied uneasily, walking to the door.

Just as he was about to leave, the phone rang. Tenzin ran to the phone, blowing a gust of wind at his siblings to move them away from the phone:

"Lin?"

His brother and sister focused on Tenzin, wanting to know the news.

"Oh... mother," Tenzin spoke sadly. "No... it's good to hear your voice, but I was expecting a call from Lin. You see... we're at the place where _he_ and dad died... and-"

Tenzin listened to his mother carefully.

"Mother, what? What are you saying, why? Don't go looking for him? Do you know something I don't? Mom? Hello?"

He hung up the phone slowly.

"What did mom say?" Bumi asked.

Before Tenzin could speak, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo came running in.

"Korra's here," Ikki shouted. "Korra's here!"

And the kids ran out into the front to greet Korra.

"What did she say, Tenzin?" Kya asked. By this time, Pema, with Rohan in her arms, had made her way toward the siblings.

"She told me not to go looking for him," Tenzin explained, "that it's for my own good and I'll only get hurt in the end."

The adults looked out in the front and saw Korra greeting the children, all frowning in disappointment. They almost seemed saddened when the phone rang once again, no one wanting to know what's to come anymore.

* * *

_The young girl skipped excitingly as she showed her new friend around his new home, who jogged beside her in order to keep up with her pace._

_"This is our garden," she announced, stopping by a window, showing the vegetables growing out of the ground. Beside the garden was a gate. "And that's where all our animals live. Father likes his food fresh, so he put in a farm. Nothing you eat here is store-bought."_

_She didn't give him time to reply, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the next location she wanted to show him. They practically ran to the other side of the palace. Well, halfway ran and halfway sped walked to the other side; when they were halfway there, Moa yelled at them to stop running on her clean floor._

_"And this is," she started, then smiled, "..oh, hello, father."_

_"Princess," the king bowed. "Xenos."_

_"Hello, sir," the boy bowed back. The man next to the king, who wore blue robes with white out lines and a helmet that had a white lotus in the center, looked at the king weirdly when he had called the boy Xenos. The boy agreed with the man, his name was strange, in his opinion. And it would probably take some time to get use to people calling him that instead of "boy "or "kid"... or "it". Even the old blind woman called him son or kid, and not by an actual name._

_"Father," the princess' smile faded quickly, looking at the man beside her father, "why are members of the White Lotus here? Is something wrong?"_

_"No," the assured, "just taking some... safety processions." When the king said that, the strange man looked at the boy, making him feel uncomfortable._

_"Well..." the boy, trying to be polite, smiled at the man, "thank you, sir, for protecting us."_

_The man gave a small smile and bowed. "Let's just hope nothing bad happens that will make me have to protect you, son."_

_"Oh... okay.." the boy spoke uneasy._

_The two grown men stared at the boy for at least a minute, but to the boy it seemed longer as they glared at him as if they were studying him._

_The king seemed to notice the boy was uneasy, so he coughed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder._

_"This here is our new guest, Fang," he told the man. "You treat him with respect and listen to what he has to say when he speaks. He's wise."_

_"Yes, sir," Fang replied, bowing to the boy. He then turned back to the king. "May I talk to you..." his eyes glanced at the boy, "privately, please."_

_"Certainly," the king smiled. "If you'll excuse us, children." _

_And they left._

_"Why do you suppose the White Lotus are here?" Aiko asked._

_"I don't even know who the White Lotus is," the boy replied._

_"It's not an is," she laughed. "It's a group. They help people out when needed... but I thought most of them were at the Southern Water Tribe. I thought they were protecting the Avatar. I got to meet her last year. She's real tough, but nice... when she's not bending."_

_"What's an Avatar?"_

_She looked at him in shock. "You don't know what an Avatar is? The Avatar is only the most powerful bender in the whole world. They control all four elements: water, earth, fire, and air."_

_"Air?"_

_"You don't know what an airbender is, either?" The princess let out a sigh. "What did that orphanage teach you, then?"_

_"Oh, no... I know what an airbender is, I just thought they were all extinct," he explained._

_"Well, they were! But then Aang, the old Avatar, an airbender, got trapped in ice for a hundred years. He comes back, finds out the Firebenders took over the world. Saves the world. Gets married to his wife and they had-"_

_"Aiko." The king's voice spoke behind them. They turned and saw the king and two White Lotus members looking at them, with frowns on their faces. "Mother needs your help getting set up for the party," he explained with a smile._

_"Party?" The boy spoke._

_"It was supposed to be a surprise," the princess said to the boy. "We're throwing a party in honor of your arrival."_

_"You really don't have to do that, sir," the boy announced to the king. "You've done more than enough for me already."_

_"Nonsense!" The king smiled, patting his daughter's head as she left. "We're excited for your arrival! Come, Xenos!"_

_The king, the two White Lotus members and the boy walked into an office. The office was big; it had a large fireplace in one corner of the room, a mini bar in another corner, and paintings everywhere of soldiers and old Kings and Queens. The boy seemed interested in one painting of a man with small glasses on the edge of his nose and a bear close beside him._

_"Ah," the king smiled, looking at the painting, "that's the 52nd Earth king," he explained. "A great man after the hundred year war, you know. When the Firenation took control of Ba Sing Se, he fled with his bear," he pointed at the bear. "He studied the ways of the people outside the wall and brought back great knowledge to our people."_

_"Excuse me, sir," one of the White Lotus interrupted. They both turned to the White Lotus, "if you don't need anything else, we'll be getting to work now."_

_"Alright," he shook their hands, "thank you very much for your help."_

_The king waited for the men to leave before he told the boy to take a seat. It seemed he had something important to tell the boy by the look on his face._

_"Xenos," he spoke firmly, "I know you've been through a lot over the past few days," the boy noticed the king fold his hands over a paper and saw something that looked familiar. "If there's anything you need to talk about... or-"_

_"Excuse me, sir," the boy interrupted, "but what is that under your hands?"_

_"What is what?" the king unfolded his hands and looked down. His heart skipped a beat as he realized what was below him. And, by the look of the boy's expression, he knew what it was too. The king, in panic, quickly crumpled up the paper and put it in one of his desk drawers. "Oh... uh... that, that's just the paper for some city... or something."_

_"Oh..." The boy nodded. He had seen enough to know that the person on the paper was the blind woman and beside her was a younger woman. They had their arms wrapped around each other, smiling toward the camera. And the words he was able to read before the king hid the paper were: ..._Beifong dead_... _World's mourning over death_... _We'll always remember her legacy_..._

_Now he was knew she died._

_"Like I was saying, Xenos," he coughed awkwardly, "if there's anything you need to talk about, I'm here."_

_The bowed his head, sadness taking control. "There is something, sir," the boy took a deep breath, then looked up at the king, who had all eyes on the boy. "A friend, a very close friend, died recently," his eyes looked in the direction of the drawer he had placed the paper in._

_"All I can say about death, son, is you mustn't be afraid of it, whether it's you yourself dying or someone you love. That friend, I'm sure, is right beside you, cheering you on as you live through this journey called life." The king said, his eyes sparkled at the boy. "Death is always near us, Xenos," he explained. "It's a part of life. We live so we can die; we die because we lived. Your friend will always be there to talk... they may not answer, but they're real good listeners."_

_"Thank you, sir," the boy got up to leave._

_"Wait... is there anything else you'd like to tell me," the king asked, standing up from his seat, smiling at the boy. "Anything at all?"_

_The boy looked at the king with a frown on his face. "Well..." He thought, they'd been so generous and so nice, but he wasn't sure it was time to reveal his powers to them. What if they turn him in? What if they experiment? Aiko started to tell him about the other airbenders, but what if he tells them and they turn against him? "No," he shook his head. "I'm sorry, no."_

_"Very well," his smile turned into frown. "But I'm here for you."_

_"Thank you, sir," he bowed to the man. __He opened the door to leave. One of the White Lotus members stood beside it. "Excuse me," the boy said, walking away._

_The White Lotus man walked into the king's office, closing the door securely behind him. "Has he told you anything yet, sir?"_

_"About the attack on his colony? Or about him being an airbender? Either one, he's told me nothing," the king told the White Lotus member._

_"Are you sure it's him, sir," the man asked. "For all we know he could be a random orphan seeking shelter from a bad life."_

_"I know it's him," the king announced. "Shave his head and put an arrow on it and he's his father! And those eyes, don't they scream out Lin Beifong? And he recognized Toph," he pulled out the crumpled up newspaper and showed it to the man, "from this newspaper, I know it. I knew it was him the moment I saw the scar on his forehead... It's like a twin to Lin's scar... except smaller, and on his forehead. And did you see his face when Aiko was telling him about the Avatar and airbending? I am completely sure it's him. But we can't protect him if he doesn't trust us!" He sat in his chair, rubbing his temple._

_"I'm sure it took a while for Toph to gain his trust," the man stated. "At least he trusts you enough to stay here."_

_"Where else does he have to go? He can't go back to his colony, those men are there!"_

_"Have they figured out who the men are?"_

_"No," he sighed. "It's like they appear out of nowhere... and disappear even faster than they come!"_

_"Maybe we'll gain more trust from him at the party tomorrow," the White Lotus man said, walking to the door._

_"I hope so," he closed his eyes and rubbed his face. "I really hope so."_

* * *

The adults stared at the phone as it kept ringing. Finally, after the third ring, Tenzin let out a long sigh and picked up the call.

"Hello," he spoke calmly, trying not to show any emotions through his voice. "Lin, how are you?"

Kya and Bumi looked at Tenzin curiously as Pema walked outside and went to greet Korra with the children.

"You've looked up the man?" Kya and Bumi moved closer to their brother. "You know where he is? Hold on, Lin..." He covered the phone with his hand and looked at his siblings. "What do you think I should do? Should I tell her to forget it? Take the address?"

"I don't know, Tenzin," Kya replied. "Do whatever you think is right, that's my advice."

"I'm determined to find out the truth... I don't care if it'll hurt me, I'm finding out where my son is."

"We'll be there every step of the way," Bumi announced as Tenzin put the phone to his ear.

"Lin, give me the address, please."


	8. Chapter 8

Tenzin looked at his two siblings; they looked at him intently as they waited for him to speak.

"I'll go and talk to this man," he announced. "He's not too far from where we are now."

"We're going with you," Kya replied.

"Yeah, we want to know what happened to the little squirt too," Bumi smiled, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

"Very well," Tenzin spoke, letting a sigh release from his mouth. They walked outside to greet Korra before they left. "Korra, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you, but why are you here? I thought you were training with Unalaq at the South Pole?"

"I was... do you guys not know about the Civil War?"

"Civil war?"

"Yeah..."

"Tell me all about it when I get back, Korra," Tenzin said in a rushed voice. "I must leave for an hour or so.."

"Tenzin, I need help to get in the Spirit World! I can't wait that long!"

"I'm sorry," Tenzin said sincerely as he, Kya and Bumi ran to fetch Oogie.

* * *

The wind roared loudly as Oogie flew the three siblings to the home of an important man who could possibly tell them the truth about the son of an airbender. This Bedell Misham could know the answer to their questions or he could be someone who happened to have the White Lotus come to his colony and had nothing to do with Tenzin's son. But this was all they had, it wasn't much but it was something.

These past few days made Tenzin change his whole perspective on life. Seventeen years ago his life changed forever; it started the mark of when he and Lin began living different lives; it was when he met his current wife, Pema; it was when all his hope and love for the world died a little along with his son. But now his hope and love grew when he found out that his son, his oldest child, could actually be alive.

Tenzin was so caught up in his memories and thoughts that he almost didn't recognize what they were flying over. He slowly guided Oogie to fly lower.

"Tenzin," Kya spoke, noticing the sudden change in height, "we're not there yet. Why are you making Oogie go lower?"

"Oh," Tenzin muttered, looking at the land below him before making Oogie rise up again. "No, Kya... I'm sorry, but after we speak to the man, I'd like to visit a place that's really important to me."

"..Okay.." Kya replied with a frown.

The trip there only took thirty minutes time, but to them it felt longer. They were so anxious to meet the stranger who possibly knew Tenzin's son, but when they arrived at the place where the man lived their mood changed slightly.

Around them was a dark and dreary place. The people who lived there all looked at the three strangers with disgust as the siblings walked around the small area, trying to locate the address of the man. The people of the area all wore dirt on their faces and ripped clothing. It was far from a happy town.

"There it is," Kya said, pointing at a small house covered in mold. The windows beside the door were cracked and the house looked as if one gust of wind hit it, the whole place would fall apart. "That's the address."

They walked slowly to the door of the house and Kya knocked three times. They heard footsteps walking toward the door. A thin, boney man opened the door. He had bags under his eyes and his head was shaved almost completely bald. He wore a frown on his face that told his guest he didn't like company. He looked fairly young, yet ill.

"What?" He spoke coldly.

"Uh... hello, Mr. Misham, I presume?" Kya started, faking a smile. "We read your book about the White Lotus coming to your colony... Is this your colony?"

"No," he spoke, "after the attack my mom made us move. You guys cops?" The man studied Bumi and his United Forces jacket.

"No, we're not cops," Kya assured. "We have reason to believe that you knew my nephew, my brother's son," she looked at Tenzin. "If it's alright with you, we'd like to ask you a few questions.."

The man looked at Tenzin's arrows. "An airbender, huh?"

Tenzin nodded.

"Yeah, I probably knew your son, unless there's more airbenders in the world."

"No, my family and I are the only airbenders," Tenzin announced, sounding hopeful. "The boy you knew is definitely my son."

A nasty smile formed on his face as if he knew something they didn't.

"Please, will you be willing to answer our questions," Kya asked the man.

He thought for a moment, "No," he said and slammed the door.

They stood there shocked for a moment before Kya knocked on the door once more.

He opened the door: "What?"

"Can you at least tell us how you know him, please." Kya asked, having a frustrated tone in her voice.

"He was one of those orphies in my colony," he spoke. "Are we done now?" He began to close the door again, Bumi stooped it with his foot.

"Please," Tenzin practically begged. "I would like to know more about my son."

The man sighed and opened the door wider. "Okay... It all started when I was eleven..."

_Three boys walked through their colony, all filled with laughter as they played pranks on one another and the people around them. Two of them were rather large and had short black hair, they were twins. The one in the middle, however, was the complete opposite. He was very thin and had long shaggy, brown hair. By the looks of the people around them, their little "pranks" seemed to be quite annoying. They pushed and shoved people away as if they owned the colony._

_"I'm hungry," one of the twins spoke in a whiny voice._

_"You're always hungry, Lee," the thin boy pointed out. He looked away from his friends and saw the crowd of children. "Looks like they let the orphies out a little early today," an evil snarl formed on his face. He rubbed his hands together and turned to his friends. "Who will it be, then?" _

_The twins smiled wickedly at their friend before spotting a small boy sitting beside the small wooden house, innocently playing with the sand on the ground below him._

_The thin boy nodded his head to his friends and they began walking towards the small boy._

_"Hello, there, orphie," the thin boy spoke, hovering above him._

_The boy looked up. "Hello," he gave a nod, then looked back at the ground and continued to play with the sand._

_"So why you here, orphie? Daddy and mommy no longer wanted you?" This made the twins chuckle._

_"I can't answer why, I'm sorry," the boy spoke honestly._

_"What are you deaf?" The thin boy asked, lifting the younger boy up to his feet by his shirt. "I'm making fun of you and you're being polite to me?"_

_"I'm sorry," the boy spoke confused. "What do you want me to do?"_

_"Be a sad little orphan and fight back, you coward," he pushed the boy to the ground. The boy lay on the ground, looking up at the three older boys. "Lee, Long!" The twins looked at their friend. "Let's teach this boy how to fight."_

_One of the twins began kicking dirt into the younger boy's eyes, while the other took one of the boy's foot and started dragging him in circles. A crowd had quickly formed around the group._

_"Maybe next time you'll know how to act when I approach you," the thin boy said with an evil grin. By this time the twins had taken the boys arms and lifted him enough off the ground to look at the thin boy._

_"I don't even know what I did," the boy said, either tears of sadness or tears of pain from the sand, falling down his cheeks._

_"You breathed," said the thin boy before he punched him in the gut. _

_The twins let go of his arms, letting him fall to the ground again._

_"Maybe that's why your parents didn't want you," the thin boy said as he kicked dirt into the younger boy's eyes one last time, "because you're a loser."_

_The boy lay on the ground, listening to the crowd of laughter, knowing the three boys hovering above him were congratulating themselves with their success. He was so angry with them, and he hated he was angry. He knew they were just trying to get attention, but-_

_He clutched his fist in anger._

_"Let's go boys," the thin boy said, starting to walk away. "We'll finish him off another time. Lee's hungry, I say we go back to my place and have a feast!"_

_The boy lifted himself off the ground like magic in the eyes of the crowd of people, making them step back a few inches. "I want a word with you!" The younger boy said sternly to the three other boys._

_"What? You want more?" The boy grinned wickedly. "Lee! Long! Get him!"_

_The two boys ran toward the young boy, but the boy didn't move out of the way. Instead, he waved his hands towards the twins in a ridicules motion. In moments the twins were up in the air, then landing ten feet away from the younger boy. They looked at the boy in shock before running away._

_"Fi-fine then," said the thin boy, uneasy. "Nice trick you got there, but my tricks are better." He ran to the young boy, determined to succeed in the fight. The young boy took a stance and flowed his arm like waves, blowing him to the ground hard. Still, he got up, not ready to quit and ran to the boy again. The young boy breathed deeply, clapped his hands together, and let out a large breath of air; not only did he blow the thin boy at least twenty feet away from him, and by the sounds of the thin boy's screams he blew him away pretty hard, he also blew himself the opposite direction._

_The young boy, hearing the screams of the other boy, quickly got up and ran to help him._

_"I'm sorry I had to do that," the young boy said sincerely, offering a hand to him, "but you can't hurt the innocent. It's not right."_

_"G-get away from me, you freak!" The thin boy began crawling away from the boy._

_The younger boy heard whispers all around him, and people staring him in interest._

_"What's the big idea, boy?" An older orphan, who was in the crowd of people, spoke to him._

_"Huh?"_

_"You just fought with airbending!"_

_"Airbending?"_

"The stupid kid ruined my reputation forever," the man scowled. "Every time people saw me, they'd say "Hey, Bedell, look out for the air behind you!" And the worst part was when the White Lotus came I thought they'd come and take him away, but no! They wanted to protect him! And that Blind Biefong protected him, so I couldn't get back at him for what he did to me!"

"Wind is a very powerful element," Tenzin announced. "Because it's so rare, many don't know how to fight against it."

"Well, your kid's childhood wasn't all that glamorous just because he had Biefong protecting him," the man spoke coldly. "Even the great powers of Biefong couldn't protect him from those men."

"Those men? What men?" Bumi asked, but by the looks of everybody's faces they knew exactly what he was talking about.

"The men! They have red coats with silver linings!

"Those men," Tenzin spoke sadly.

"I saw one of them knock the freak to the ground, he had a sword toward his neck before one of them knocked me out."

"What are you saying?" Tenzin asked in shock.

"I'm saying your boy is dead," he explained to him. "I'm sure of it! They'd be my heroes if they hadn't killed my father," he scoffed. He shut the door.

No one spoke as they got back on Oogie and flew back to where Korra and their family were. Their mother was right, it would only hurt them in the end. It saddened them that they learned he had survived the attack seventeen years ago, only to find out he died a long time ago.

They flew for a while before Tenzin quickly landed and got off Oogie, leaving behind a confused Kya and Bumi.

"Tenzin, where are we?" Kya asked, looking around her surroundings. Graves were placed everywhere.

"Yeah... Tenzin, grave yards make me uncomfortable," Bumi added.

"I told you I wanted to stop somewhere before we headed back," Tenzin said in a soft tone.

Kya and Bumi got off Oogie and followed their brother. He stopped at a grave.

"Oh," Kya spoke, nodding her head.

"I like to come visit him whenever I'm sad or need advice," Tenzin announced. "Although, it's kind of hard when he's here and I'm in Republic City far away from him."

"He was a great man, Tenzin," Kya said, hugging her brother.

"And a great best friend, Kya," Tenzin added on. "You know, he died not long before..."

"I know," Kya nodded. "He was a great man, Tenzin."

"I miss our conversations we'd have, his advice he'd give me. He gave great advice."

"I know, Tenzin," Kya agreed.

"Well, I suppose we should be off," Tenzin announced, trying to sound cheery. "We need to help Korra."

"Tenzin," Bumi spoke, "if you need to talk about this... this whole situation, we'll be here for you."

"What's there to talk about? My son's death? My best friend's death? Dad's death? Well, guess what, Bumi! Everybody dies! You'll die, I'll die, mom will die!"

"It's a lot to handle, Tenzin," Kya announced. "All Bumi's saying is we're here for you."

"..Well, thanks.." He said, his head hung low, as he walked back to Oogie.

"He's really taking this hard," Bumi said when his brother was no longer in sight.

"Who wouldn't be," Kya agreed, she began picking flowers from near by. "He's been through a lot in less than twenty years, Bumi." She picked a dozen flowers and placed them on the grave Tenzin had just been mourning over. "Rest in peace, Liko," she spoke to the grave. "You were a great friend and you died too soon. We all miss you."

"Kya! Bumi! Let's go! We need to get back to Korra," Tenzin yelled. Kya and Bumi got on Oogie and they flew back to the Southern Air Temple.


	9. Chapter 9

_He looked around at his surroundings; it was pitch black. He didn't know where he was. Was he dreaming? Was he dead? What was this strange place._

_"Trial one is complete." He heard someone say. He didn't recognize the voice._

_"How do we know he's the one, sir? What if the same thing happens to him as did his father?"_

_"There's no way to be sure," the first voice replied in a slow, calming voice. "All we can conclude is he completed trial one with bravery."_

_"As did his father," the second voice, a woman's voice, replied, "and remember how that turned out?"_

_"Have faith, young one," said the first voice. "The prophecy says an airbender. Is he not an airbender?"_

_"Yes... but so was his father," the other voice retorted. "Look at the mess we did seven years ago, and think about the mess of what's to come when we're wrong with this boy."_

_"You know as well as I that he shares so many characteristics with his father: smart, kind, and loyal to his friends."_

_"But how do we know he's the one?"_

_"We don't, my dear child," said the first voice in a soft tone of hope. "Only fate can decide his destiny and only he can prove he is worthy for the job."_

_"..Um.. Hello?" The boy manage to speak. "Can you tell me where I am, please?"_

_"Come now, let him have peaceful dreams," the first voice spoke. "We've disrupted his rest."_

_"..Hello.."_

_There was a whooshing sound pounding in his ears and suddenly it had gone silent again. Then he started shaking. He opened his eyes wide._

_"I finally got you up," said Moa with a smile. "I've been trying for the past few minutes-King's orders. I thought you were dead until you started muttering "hello" in your sleep."_

_"I had the strangest dream," the boy replied. "I think it was a dream."_

_"Well, I suppose your mind thinks of the craziest things when you're sleeping for nearly seventeen hours!"_

_"Seventeen hours? I'm so sorry..."_

_"No need to apologize, child." Moa announced as she led the boy to the bathroom. "You needed the sleep... I woke you just the right time to get you ready for your party."_

_"I slept the whole day away?"_

_"You did," nodded Moa. "Now go bathe... I'll have a nice suit laying out for you to wear. I'll be back in an hour to lead you to the ball room. Quickly now! Come on!"_

_He wanted to say thanks, but she pushed him in the bathroom, slammed the door shut, and continued with her business._

_So he bathed quickly, trying not to think about his strange dream. Moa was right, it was only a strange dream because he slept for so long. He wished someone had woken him up at the appropriate time so he could help set up the party. It was all in the act of kindness, he supposed, when they let him sleep in._

_He had just put on his clothes when Moa knocked on his door, inviting herself into his room._

_"Come, sir," she said, grabbing his arm lightly and leading him to two large doors. "Go on, sir, open the door. Enjoy your party."_

_"Are you not welcome to come?" He asked Moa, confused on the situation. She had probably set up most of the party, why wouldn't she be coming?_

_"I have work to get done, young master," she smiled at him. He frowned at her, she gave him a kiss on the forehead that told him he shouldn't worry and enjoy his party._

_He gave her a nod and opened one of the doors with force, suddenly his ears filled with laughter and voices of strangers. He looked around and saw people chatting away, young children running around the large, echoing room, and the smiling faces of people he never knew before beaming up at him like he was worth something. A few of the White Lotus members stood beside the walls around the room, guarding the place, making sure nothing's out of place._

_"Ah, Xenos! I suspect you slept well," said a familiar voice. The boy turned to his left and saw the king smiling at him._

_"I did, sir." The boy, embarrassed, said as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Thank you for letting me sleep in."_

_The king nodded sincerely as the princess came running up to them._

_"Wonderful party, isn't it?" Princess Aiko spoke._

_"Yes, thank you," said the boy._

_"I'll introduce you to everybody I know," she announced, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the center of the party. "The White Lotus, you already know," she pointed to a White Lotus member. "See that man talking to my mother," she pointed in the direction her mother was, "you should stay away from him. He's trouble, he claims he's the rightful ruler of our beloved kingdom. He acts nice, but be careful what you say to him. He'll use it against you. I don't even think he was invited, I think he just showed up." _

_"Wannabe king," he muttered, "got it!"_

_"Okay, and most of these people," she waved her hand in the direction of a group of people, "they're the rich people of our kingdom who donate a lot of money, or something like that."_

_"Rich people or something," the boy muttered, "got it!"_

_"And some people, I can't point them all out because they're all around the room, are friends of my parents," she finally finished._

_"Friends of parents," he muttered once more, "got it!"_

_"And that's the party guests! Want to dance?"_

_"I'm afraid I don't know how to dance," he replied with a frown. "And there's no music to dance to, either."_

_Suddenly the room filled with music, and everyone began to clap. The two children turned to one corner of the room and saw a whole orchestra of people playing instruments._

_"You were saying?" Said the princess with a smile._

_"I still don't know how to dance, sorry."_

_"I'll teach you," she announced, about to drag him to the dance floor._

_"Everyone! Everyone can I have your attention," the king spoke, making the music stop and everyone look at him. "Xenos, can you come here, please?"_

_The boy walked awkwardly to the king as the party guests stared at him._

_The king put his hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled up at his guests. "Everyone, this is our new house guest, Xenos. I decided to put together this little party to celebrate his arrival. I expect you all to treat him like he were my own son. Please, enjoy the party. Waiters will be around with drinks and food, so help yourselves."_

_Everyone clapped, then the music started up again and they all continued with what they had done before the king had made his speech._

_"Have fun, Xenos," the king smiled at the boy. Then the queen came and dragged him off to greet other guests, leaving behind the boy and the princess. _

_"How 'bout that dance?" She spoke to him kindly. He nodded his head and they walked to the dance floor._

_The boy had an amazing night. And because he had slept so long, he was full of energy; the later the night, the more energy he got. He danced with all types of people, the princess, some other children, even a few old ladies who thought he was a lovely dancer, though he never danced a day in his life up until now. The food the waiters had served was amazing. Everything was perfect in the boy's eyes._

_The later the night got, the tired the guests and the waiters became. Who wouldn't be tired after a long night of partying and waitering? One waiter in particular, a tall, slender man, seemed to get slower and slower. In the boy's eyes, he was definitely over worked. And it didn't help that the wannabe king kept ordering, more like commanding, him to get him more drinks. _

_The man had ordered his sixteenth drink and the young waiter kindly brought to him. But before he could hand the man the drink, he slipped. The drink was up in the air, so the boy, without thinking, ran up near it, and before it hit the ground and smashed into pieces, he caught it._

_The boy was proud of himself, but when he looked around the room the smile he had on his face quickly faded as he saw the party guests looking at him in shock. Even the waiter seemed more terrified than grateful. The White Lotus seemed to have no reaction, the boy did think he saw a few of them curl their lips slightly._

_He looked down at the glass he had caught, and his heart skipped a beat. He hadn't caught it with his hands. He used airbending. The boy was looking down at a glass that was floating in mid air, one hand below the glass and one hand above it, only air keeping his hands from touching the glass._

_He slowly removed his hands away from the glass, letting it drop to the floor, and awkwardly stood there as he pretended to not hear the whispers around him._

_Then, someone began to clap behind him. He, and everybody else, looked to see who was clapping. It was the king._

_"He told me about his magic tricks... I guess I should have believed him," the king spoke happily, still clapping his hands together._

_The people's faces of shock soon turned into smiles and they joined in the applause. Still, the boy just stood there, looking at the king, who gave the boy a wink. Why did the king lie like that? The boy hadn't told him he did magic, he's never done magic in his life. It wasn't until the king walked out of the room that the boy realized what the king had done for him._

_He ran after the king, ignoring the cheers and compliments people gave him about his "magic" tricks._

_"Excuse me, sir," the boy called out._

_The king stopped walking and turned to the boy. "Yes, Xenos?"_

_He looked at the kind face of the king. He wanted to tell him everything, about how his colony had got attacked, about his blind friend's death, about everything. But something told him that the king already knew and was just being patient until he was ready to talk._

_The newspaper that the king hid from him, he was sure that the woman was the blind woman. And he knew that he just airbent, the king knows he's an airbender. The king knows who he is. The king is protecting the boy. That's why the White Lotus are here... because of him. But why?_

_The boy didn't dare ask why. He knew it wasn't the time to ask, even the old woman, who he knew and loved, knew how precious time was and the boy was far from being ready to know his fate. When the time was right, the king will tell him everything. And today was not that day. _

_"Thank you."_


	10. Chapter 10

_A man with blue and white robes walked urgently through the halls of the kingdom, holding a newspaper securely in his hand. He walked up to the two children of the palace: "Where's your father?" He asked the girl._

_"In his office," she told him, but before she could ask why he wanted to see her father, he left._

_Ever since that party the royals through for the young boy, he's learned to trust the family. The princess especially, they've become the best of friends; getting into trouble with Moa almost everyday, going on adventures around the castle(they weren't allowed out of the palace), and they grew up together._

_The boy knew that the king was protecting him, from what, he might never know. But when he finally revealed he was an airbender to him, the king taught him to control his bending. They spent long hours meditating in the garden, trying to find the boy's center. It really seemed strange to the boy that airbenders meditated so much, but he never said anything because this was his culture._

_The whole palace seemed to know he was an airbender, but they were permitted to sign a paper, promising never to reveal there was an airbender in the palace._

_The man barged into the king's office, his eyes just screamed "fear" as he took a seat next to the King's desk._

_"Yes," the king mumbled. He had his reading glasses on and his eyes were locked on a book. "What do you need?"_

_"There's been another attack." He slammed the paper on the king's desk. "The attacks just keep moving closer and closer here, sir."_

_"No one knows he's in the palace, relax," the king replied, not taking his eyes off his book._

_"How do we know there's not a spy somewhere in the palace, lurking around the palace, trying discover our secrets!"_

_"Honestly, Fang, you and you're trust issues," the king finally looked up from his book. "You should really see a therapist about that. It could be quite serious. You might be feeling these feelings because of childhood experiences. Tell me, Fang, did your father hug you enough when you were small."_

_"Sir," the man stood up from his chair and glared at the king, "we need to take this seriously. We were hired to protect the boy. If the boy is dead, sir, we can not protect him."_

_"I understand what you're saying," the king said, taking of his glasses, "but he's been here for three years already. I'm teaching him everything I know about airbending-"_

_"Which isn't a lot, sir."_

_"The point I'm trying to make is he's completely safe here," the king announced with a warm smile._

_"For how long, sir? Look at the paper "Men in red coats and silver linings attack again", we can't even figure out who they are. We have the United forces on secret missions to try to find them... But we have nothing, sir. The boy needs more than an earthbender to teach him airbending!"_

_The king was about to reply when a knock on the door disrupted their conversation._

_"Come in," the king spoke._

_Moa walked in, holding a tray with two tea cups and a tea pot. "Afternoon, sir! You're twelve o' clock tea right on time, like always."_

_"Yes, thank you, Moa," the king gave her a soft smile, clearing the newspaper off the desk to make room for the tray, "just set it down right here. I can pour my own tea, thank you. Fang, would you like some? It's quite good."_

_"No thank you, sir," the man replied with a tone of annoyance in his voice._

_"Will there be anything else, sir?" Moa asked._

_"Yes... Moa, would you please go and get Xenos for me." Said the king. Moa nodded and quickly left._

_"Why are you getting the boy?" The man said, confused._

_"I'm going to tell him," he replied._

_"Everything?"_

_"Everything I know he can handle," the king spoke in a calming tone, taking a sip of his tea. "You said it yourself, Fang, he needs to be prepared for the men... And I can't give that to him."_

_"What... Where would he go? He can't go see Tenzin and Lin... Last I heard they weren't even talking to each other!"_

_"I know a spiritual place where he can probably connect with his grandfather... Avatar Aang visited this place, a swamp, when he was a boy. I believe this could help him connect him with his airbending culture._

_"And if it doesn't?"_

_"If it doesn't," sighed the king, "then I have failed as a king and a protector. And the death of an innocent boy will haunt us all."_

_Another knock on the door interrupted them._

_"Come in, Xenos..."_

_"Moa said you wanted to see me, sir?" The boy walked in slowly. He wasn't as small and fragile as he was when he first came to the palace. He grew a few inches and his hair was slightly shorter than when he was shorter. He looked much healthier than he use to be._

_"Yes, that is correct, son... Please take a seat next to Fang," the commanded with a small smile._

_The boy obeyed and took a seat._

_"Xenos," the king began, "Fang has brought to my attention that the men with red coats and silver linings have attacked another colony."_

_"Oh..."_

_"Yes oh is right, boy," said Fang._

_"Why are you telling me this?" The boy asked._

_"Because you know and I know... They're after you, boy," replied Fang._

_The boy looked at the king nervously._

_"Fang, please, don't scare him," he announced. "I will tell him everything."_

_"Sorry, sir," the man mumbled._

_"You have met these men before, right?" The king spoke to the boy._

_"Yeah... They killed my friend," the boy said softly. "I told you that..."_

_"Yes, I know," he nodded, "but I'm afraid you have had one more encounter with them."_

_"I have?"_

_The king stood up and moved to the portrait of the 52nd Earth King, facing toward it. "This isn't easy for me to tell you, Xenos. There's so much to tell you, I don't know where to begin, you see."_

_"Are you saying I'm old enough to know?"_

_"I'm saying I think it's time to tell you," the king said, turning to the boy. "I've been put in a rather difficult situation with you. When you were a baby those men stole you right out of your mother's arms. Your grandfather, not only an airbender but also the Avatar, did his best to get you back into the arms of your mother. Sadly, he failed at his attempt to get you back, dying with you in his arms. A White Lotus member grabbed you before those men could... Leaving you in that orphanage, leaving you in hiding."_

_"So they wanted me?" The boy couldn't help but smile._

_"They wanted you more than you could ever imagine," the king smiled back at the boy. "But sadly they were left thinking you were dead, for protection. We were only going to have you hidden until we captured those men, but it was like they vanished. And then you airbent. That was a big problem because people... they talk. Especially, when they see someone airbending. Being an airbender is very rare, you see... You, your father and your two sisters, assuming that your baby sister is an airbender, are the last of the your kind."_

_"I have sisters?"_

_"Yes, very beautiful from the photos your father sent me," he replied. "Anyway, we had the White Lotus come and investigate the colony, staying for a while just to be sure you were alright, along with your grandmothers."_

_"The old women were my grandmothers?" He said shocked. "The old woman was my grandma."_

_"And you know the rest, Toph, your blind grandmother, stayed behind to protect you."_

_"She was my grandmother," he spoke softly and sadly, "and I watched her die for me."_

_"From what I heard, you almost died for her," said the king. "You were very brave that day, turning back to risk your own life to help your colony."_

_"I only did what I thought was right," the boy claimed._

_"My father once told me that a sign of a true king is someone who will risk everything to help others, only asking them to pay it forward in return," the king explained. "You are a true king, Xenos. And your grandmother is up with the spirits right now, talking to the spirits about your bravery and how proud she is of you."_

_"Thank you, sir."_

_"And I was so relieved that Aiko saw you on the ground, below the bridge. I was relieved you were alive," he looked into the boy's eyes._

_"So the old lad- I mean, my grandmother was right when she told me I wasn't alone," a smile formed on his face._

_"You'll never be alone, Xenos."_

_"I understand what she was telling me now... well, kind of," the boy spoke._

_"Now for the news you dread to hear, we have reason to believe that the men who are attacking the colonies are in search for something."_

_"Someone," added Fang._

_The boy's smile quickly faded._

_"As in someone... you mean me, right?"_

_"That is correct," the king confirmed._

_"We don't know why," explained Fang, "all we know is they first showed up at your home when you were a baby and we don't think they'll stop until they get you."_

_"I want you to go to this swamp..." The king mumbled as he walked to his desk and opened one of his drawers, searching for something. "Ah, here we are," he pulled out a map. "This is our kingdom and all the way over there is the swamp. It's a long journey by land, but I think visiting this swamp will help you with your airbending connection."_

_"What's this?" The boy pointed at a small point near the middle of the map._

_"That's... Republic City..." Explained the king. "It's... where your parents live."_

_"Can you tell me about them, or.."_

_"I guess it won't hurt to tell you," the king said, looking at Fang, who gave an approving nod. He looked at the boy, "Your parents separated a while back... Your father married again and they have two daughters together. He's a council member for the city. Your mother is the chief of police of Republic City. She's tough, but a great woman."_

_"Did my parents break up because of me?" The boy asked with a frown._

_"..I don't really know that answer, I'm sorry," the king replied._

_"What's the plan for me to go to the swamp?" He asked, trying to shake off his sadness._

_"We can't come with you, I have duties to my kingdom and if the White Lotus escorted you there, those men would know and think something was up."_

_"I'll have to go by myself?"_

_"It's the only way to keep you safe from the warriors."_

_"When do I leave?"_

_"As soon as possible," the king said, as they all headed for the door. "It's too late in the day to start your journey today, you'll leave first thing tomorrow."_


	11. Chapter 11

_He'd been out in the heat for hours, trying to figure out if he was going the right way or if he was just lost. The king gave him a very large animal, he called a Lizard Lion, it had the head of a lion but its neck and body was a lizard. It moved quickly, probably because where the boy needed to go, he had to go there quickly._

_It was only hours ago that the king said him farewell. It was so hard for the boy to say goodbye to everyone. But it wasn't safe there anymore; the strange warriors were getting closer to the kingdom and for the safety of everyone it was best that he leave._

_Before he left, though, the king gave him a do-rag to cover the top of his head and, more importantly, his scar. He gave the boy direct orders to never reveal his scar to anyone, unless they're White Lotus members, and to never reveal his secrets._

_But now, only hours later, he became scared. The map was hard for him to follow, mainly because he's never read a map before. And his Lizard Lion was now getting fussy, knowing that the boy had no idea where they were._

_"..Hang on.." The boy muttered, irritated and struggling to keep the animal in control. The boy jumped off the animal quickly, grabbed the ropes that wrapped around the animal's neck and tied it around a nearby tree. "Stay here," he commanded to the wild animal. "I think I saw some people walking near us, maybe there's a town near here... I'll go and ask for directions and find out where we are.."_

_The lion lizard jerked its head in a wild manner as the boy began walking away. He walked for a few minutes until he came across mountains. But what was behind the mountains? He looked to his left cautiously; he looked to his right cautiously. And as he took a deep breath and bent his knees to leap upward, he was flying in the air. It was breath-taking, everything was blurry and windy. He had to keep hold of his do-rag to prevent it from falling off. _

_He landed on the bumpy, hard ground with a thump. (He wasn't use to flying in the air) He looked at his surroundings, it was cold, actually freezing, and clouds were so near him, he could touch them. He was on top of the mountain._

_He made his way to the edge of the mountain. He gasped in amazement, looking at the sight of large buildings and busy streets. It was a sight he never seen before. He had to get closer._

_So with another gasp of breath, he jumped off the mountain, but he wasn't falling, he was gliding. The air around him guided him down to the ground. It was much calmer than when he was going up the mountain and he hit the ground with a soft thump._

_The boy could hear voices not too far from where he was. He quickly ran away from the mountains and onto a busy street._

_"Get your Fire Flakes," screamed a woman. She was by a sales cart and was holding up a strange red bag. "Get your Fire Flakes here!"_

_"Shoe shine anyone?" He turned to see a man with ragged clothing and holding up a small white towel. "Shoe shine!"_

_"We take all types of money, whether it's Earth, Fire, or Water money," the woman announced._

_He ran up to the woman in a hurry. "Excuse me, ma'am.." He called out._

_"Would you like Fire Flakes?" She said, holding the bag in front of him._

_"No... No, thank you," he replied, pushing the bag out of his face and getting out his map. "I was wondering if you could tell me where I am? You see, I'm suppose to be here," he pointed at the swamp on the map, "but I don't quite know where I am."_

_"Such a young boy traveling so far," the woman gasped. "But you're nearly halfway there," she said with a smile, "you're in Republic City.."_

_"Republic City?"_

_"Yeah, that's right, Republic City," she repeated._

_"..Thank you," he said softly, beginning to walk back towards the mountain. Then he stopped, turned around, and walked back to the woman. Dare he ask what he wanted to ask? "Ma'am?"_

_"Yes, dear, have you changed your mind about the Fire Flakes?"_

_"No, sorry," the boy told her. "I was wondering if you could tell me where the Council members work?" _

_"Inside City Hall, of course!"_

_"Of course," he nodded. "Do you mind telling me where City Hall is?"_

_"Just a few blocks that way," she explained, pointing to her right. "Keep straight until you get near the Police Force, then take a right and you'll be there in a few minutes."_

_"..Thank you.." He said, running to where she was pointing. _

_"I just wants to talk to one of them," the boy kept saying to himself. "Just hear one of their voices talk to me."_

_He ran to the City Hall, quickly, turning right at the Police Force, then keep... The Police Force. He stopped and looked at the big metal building, his heart pounding. After a minute of staring at the large building, he decided to continue to City Hall. It would probably be easier to find a Council member than a Police Chief._

_The boy, when he could see the big City Hall building, ran faster than he could imagine, anticipating the reunion. He ran into the building, not knowing where to go, but too excited to slow down._

_"Stop," a voice commanded._

_He did so, turning to the voice. A woman with short black hair came walking up to him. She had a scar on her face that made him gasp. It was identical to his, except being on her cheek not her forehead. _

_"What is a kid doing in City Hall?" She asked with a frown. "And more importantly, why are you running?"_

_He looked straight to the ground, his heart beating fast, thinking of an answer. But before he could speak, another voice spoke._

_"Honestly, mother, you didn't have to come down here with me," a man's voice said. The woman and the boy turned and saw a tall man. He had a big arrow on his bald head and wore red and yellow robes. He was with a woman, the boy recognized her at once. She was his grandmother. "You should be at home with Pema and the girls."_

_"Oh, Tenzin," the old woman replied, "I enjoy being with you."_

_The boy noticed they were walking near him and the woman._

_"Well?" Said the woman the scar._

_He didn't dare look up._

_"Hello, Lin," the man said with a warm smile. "How are you on this beautiful afternoon?"_

_"I'm fine, Tenzin," the woman replied coldly._

_"And who is this," he looked at the boy..._

_"I'm Xenos," the boy spoke, looking up at his grandmother, giving her a warm smile._

_The old woman let out a gasp, staring at him._

_"And why are you at City Hall?" Asked Lin._

_"I was... looking for my parents," he replied honestly._

_"Do you need help finding them?" Asked a concerned Tenzin._

_"No... I found them," the boy announced, looking back at the ground, hiding his smile._

_"Well, don't be running in the halls," Lin told him as she began to walk away._

_"Lin, would you like to join us for lunch," Tenzin said, stopping her from walking away. "I was just about to treat my mom to lunch, you're more than welcome to join us."_

_"Thanks, but I have to get back to work," she told him. "We need to catch the muggers who robbed down town last night."_

_"If you find any leads, tell me," the man announced._

_And with that she walked away, leaving the three behind._

_"Shall we be off to lunch," said Tenzin to his mother._

_"Just one second, Tenzin," his mother replied. "You go ahead and I'll catch up."_

_"Okay," Tenzin nodded and left._

_"I thought you were on your way to the swamp?" The old woman said in a whisper. "I spoke to King Alboin yesterday and that's where he said you were going.."_

_"I was," he whispered back, "but then I got lost and decided to ask for directions. But when I realized where I was... I had to-"_

_"I understand," the old woman smiled, giving him a warm hug. "It's so good to see you again. You've grown."_

_"I should probably get going," he told her after a few minutes of silent hugging._

_"Be safe," she kissed his cheek and pulled down his do-rag to cover his forehead more._

_He nodded and walked out of City Hall, back to where the mountains were, airbending himself up and off the mountain, and making his way back to the lion lizard. But when he got back to where he thought he had left the lion lizard, it was nowhere in sight. _

_"Oh, no," he said with a whine, "the stupid animal chewed his way out of the ropes!" He let out a sigh as he got his map out. "If I'm at Republic City, then that means... I need to go straight." He looked around, seeing trees and rocks. "Which way's straight?" He thought for a moment, then began walking straight, hoping he was going the right way._


End file.
